Sometimes You Reap The Whirlwind And Get Told To Kill Yourself

Over the past few months I have written extensively about One Direction. Make no mistake One Direction fans are a passionate lot. I have been blessed by having a great deal of support from many One Direction fans for my writing. As I have developed contacts and online friendships I have been hugely impressed by the thoughtfulness, analytical skills and friendliness of those I have interacted with.

I have written extensively about the range of incredible projects devised by One Direction fans. From charity fundraising, anti-bullying projects and support for LGBTQA causes I have been mightily impressed by the efforts of One Direction fans to do their bit to make the world a better place. I had seen little of the much talked about dark and nasty side of the One Direction fandom.

Now to be fair I had been warned by some One Direction fans that this side of the fandom was alive and well, but I had never seen it personally. Until yesterday.

I have always been very open with those One Direction fans that I interact with. I knew that at some point I would write things that the fans don’t agree with and don’t like. What I didn’t expect was the level of hate and pure nastiness that came my way after an article I wrote yesterday.

In that article I put forward the view that Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson’s rumoured relationship, dubbed Larry Stylinson by One Direction fans elevated “Larry” to the position of gay icons. Now I was extremely careful to recognise that the issue is one that causes division between One Direction fans. I carefully balanced the article to ensure that I pointed out that both sides of the argument put forward strong and convincing arguments to support their own case. That said I did not expect everyone to understand what I was trying to say.

That still doesn't change the fact that your article is trash and Louis and Harry aren't gay icons. https://t.co/MMHdHwjKRC

My argument is actually a very simple one. It makes no difference whether to not Styles and Tomlinson are gay, straight or any other sexuality you care to mention. The fact that tens of millions of people are aware of the rumours and as a result discuss LBGTQA matters can only be a good thing. Awareness is raised about the issues and as a result One Direction’s fans come to realise that every sexuality or none is legitimate and normal.

Just last year a poll by the UK Governments YouGov named One Direction as the band that the greatest proportion of gay people in the UK identified with. Add to that Harry Styles in particular has been very supportive of LGBTQA causes. Styles frequently wraps himself in the rainbow flag on stage. Styles is telling One Direction fans in no uncertain terms that every sexuality and none is OK.

One Direction between them have well over 100 million followers on social media. Their support for LGBTQA causes is beyond question. In my book that gives One Direction “gay icon” status.

You can disagree, that is fine and that is your right. I have no problem with people challenging my views and thought. Only by considering wider and opposing views can we expect to learn and broaden our own thinking. If you disagree with me by all means say so and explain why. It was somewhat to my surprise that some One Direction fans simply see the words Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Larry and Gay in the same sentence and feel that they have the right to spew forward hatred.

I suspect that many of those who have been urging me to kill myself didn’t even read the article. If they did they certainly did not approach it with an open mind.

I’m not sure what those people expect to achieve by spewing out hatred. Do they think I will be silenced? Do they expect viciousness to change my views, do they think I can be bullied? I will let those haters into a secret. You don’t get heard when you behave like this, you get ignored. The way to be heard is to speak calmly and respectfully to lay out your own position. This seems to be something that is lost on a small proportion of One Direction fans.

I am a little saddened by this but it most certainly will not silence me and here is a little message to the haters who say Harry and Louis do nothing to support the LBGTQA community

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About The Sound of Summer

Hi,
I am Alan. I live in Broadstone, Dorset with my wife, Shirley, my son, Ryan and two dogs called Bailey and Jasper. I have recently retired after working in the Armed Forces and in Public Service since 1977 so I now have a bit more time to do the things I love.
Music is a huge part of my life and always has been. I have a broad taste in music and can find something to enjoy in most styles of music. I have always been attracted to music which has something to say, is outside the mainstream and is perhaps a bit rebellious.
I guess my early influences were late 1970's Punk and new wave bands, especially those who came out of Northern Ireland where I grew up. I loved Stiff Little Fingers, The Undertones, Rudi, Starjets etc but also bands like The Ramones, The Clash, The Jam and so on.
I like singer songwriters including Van Morrison, Springsteen, Neil Young & Bob Dylan and in recent years I have become more interested in folk and acoustic music but I also love the sort of high drive energetic Folk/Punk music delivered by bands like The Levellers, Leatherat, Ferocious Dog and many others who frequent the UK Festival scene.
I have long since lost the desire to spend my holidays laying around in the sun and these days am much more likely to be found in a muddy field somewhere in the UK during the festival season.

5 thoughts on “Sometimes You Reap The Whirlwind And Get Told To Kill Yourself”

it shouldn’t matter if they are or not love is love don’t try to stop it.

On Sun, Feb 14, 2016 at 9:19 AM, The Sound Of Summer wrote:

> The Sound of Summer posted: “Over the past few months I have written > extensively about One Direction. Make no mistake One Direction fans are a > passionate lot. I have been blessed by having a great deal of support from > many One Direction fans for my writing. As I have developed con” >

It was a well-balanced and well-written argument. The people you have mentioned who sent such disgusting remarks,clearly didn’t read the entire article, just the headline. The 1D fandom can be a wonderful place. But it does has a nasty side and it’s sadly the nasty side that regularly garners the media attention. As you said the fandom has a few initiatives in place which aim to make the fandom and the world generally a better place. It’s just sad that it’s continuously the bad things from within the fandom that media and the general public tend to see and use to form an opinion on.

I totally agree, that is exactly the point for me. As you know I have written so much about the positive side of the 1D fandom but like any other walk of life there are a few nasty people around. I actually feel sorry for them if I am honest. It’s sad that these people have so little positivity in their lives